Julian Assange

[Jackmoves]

Reading this, but it doesn't say anything about what kind of allegations he would face in the US.
So, why does this guy risk extradition to the US apart from maybe witnessing against Bradley Manning?? Is there a case of some sort? Or is it just "what ifs"?
I know there are allegations of rape and sexual assault against him here in my country, so no need to explain that.

WikiLeaks smear effort to reveal Bildt as US 'spy'

WikiLeaks is planning a smear campaign against the Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt to halt the extradition of founder Julian Assange to the United States, including releasing documents allegedly showing that Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt has acted as an informant for the United States since the 1970s.

According to an internal WikiLeaks memo reviewed by Swedish tabloid Expressen, WikiLeaks plans to release more classified documents, organize blockades of Swedish embassies and consulates as well as boycotts of Swedish companies.

“This is going to hurt Sweden more than the debate about the Mohammad cartoons,” a source with knowledge of the matter told Expressen.

As Assange enters the final stages of his legal battle to avoid extradition to Sweden, his colleagues at WikiLeaks have begun preparing for how to prevent the Swedish government from extraditing the founder of the whistle-blower website to the United States.

“That the Swedish government doesn't take this seriously but rather makes it easier for the American government means Sweden finds itself among the countries that don't support transparency, the rights of the individual, and human rights,” the internal WikiLeaks memo reads.

“That puts Sweden and the country's reputation in great danger and the Swedish government is going to be forced to answer to global public opinion which will hold them responsible for not letting people around the world access information to which they have a right.”

WikiLeaks officials are convinced that Sweden has already made a deal with the United States that would see Assange extradited there to testify against Bradley Manning, the US soldier suspected of leaking thousands of classified US diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks.

There are also fears that Assange could be arrested and put on trial for espionage against the United States, WikiLeaks sources tell Expressen.

“If he's extradited, we fear for his life and that's something Sweden will pay a high price for,” a source said.

Among the documents WikiLeaks plans to make public is a US diplomatic report showing that Carl Bildt has served as an informant for the United States since the 1970s.

“There are secret documents that reveal that Bildt cooperated with the American administration in a way that violates Swedish law,” a WikiLeaks source told the paper.

“He'll be forced to resign. It will be the end of his political career.”

According to WikiLeaks, Bildt's original contact is political consultant Karl Rove, a former adviser to President George W. Bush, and someone who Bildt has openly referred to as “an old friend”.

While WikiLeaks spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson refused to comment on the details of the report about Bildt, she told Expressen “it's going to be released soon”.

Swedish foreign ministry spokesperson Anders Jörle said Bildt had nothing to say about the claims.

“We're going to hold off on commenting. We want to see what sort of document it is before we comment,” he told the paper.

However, Bildt acknowledged the Expressen report on his official Twitter account.

"Media reports that Wikileaks is planning what they describe as a 'smear campaign' against Sweden. Good to know," Bildt wrote, alongside a link to the Expressen article.

He also reacted to the report on his blog, challenging WikiLeaks "this in their opinion damning report".

"When that happens, this part of their planned 'smear campaign' will quickly fall apart," he wrote.

[Skroe]

Is this the same Julian Assange who announced to the world that the 250,000 leaked State Department cables showed "American War Crimes" when in fact they showed a tremendously professional and sometime eloquent diplomatic corps that had to deal with a world drowning in corruption, nationalistic politics and quirkiness? That "called home" to share what they learned about everything from the French social scene to the favorite cuisine of the Indonesian foreign minister?

I mean his "thermonuclear bomb" as he called it made US Diplomats look great and incredibly competent. If it wasn't for the fact it got leaked because of lax security practices, that could have harmed national security because it makes governments less sure the US can keep a secret, the State department should thank Assange.

There isn't a bigger phony, fraud and charlatan on Planet Earth than Julian Assange. His only cause is himself.

As for Bradly Manning... He's going to be locked away until the end of time like the oath breaking criminal he is. Can't wait for what a fifty year old, greying, shrifled Manning, thirty-five years hence will have to say about the glorious crusade of Mister Assange, and how it destroyed his life. That's gonna be one Dateline NBC (with Stone Phillip's head in a glass life-support jar as the host) worth watching!

[Dannz]

ya Skroesec, we should let the US imperialistic government continue and lock up all whistle blowers :3

[Bridgetjones]

Is this the same Julian Assange who announced to the world that the 250,000 leaked State Department cables showed "American War Crimes" when in fact they showed a tremendously professional and sometime eloquent diplomatic corps that had to deal with a world drowning in corruption, nationalistic politics and quirkiness?

You and I clearly didn't watch/read the same materials. I think maybe you accidentally had your wikileaks filtered through some "fair and balanced" cable infotainment.

I seem to recall video of very professional soldiers gunning down unarmed civilians from a helicopter. I also remember memos about the Bush White House trying to sabotage and undermine the factual basis of Michael Moore's films Sicko and Fahrenheit 9-11.

Whether or not you agree with Bradley Manning's actions, he broke the law and ought to be punished. Regardless, the government has lost accountability to the people; the reason things are hidden is because if the public knew the truth, heads would roll. Right or wrong, it was a brief moment of clarity for the american people.

[Skroe]

You and I clearly didn't watch/read the same materials. I think maybe you accidentally had your wikileaks filtered through some "fair and balanced" cable infotainment.

I seem to recall video of very professional soldiers gunning down unarmed civilians from a helicopter. I also remember memos about the Bush White House trying to sabotage and undermine the factual basis of Michael Moore's films Sicko and Fahrenheit 9-11.

Whether or not you agree with Bradley Manning's actions, he broke the law and ought to be punished. Regardless, the government has lost accountability to the people; the reason things are hidden is because if the public knew the truth, heads would roll. Right or wrong, it was a brief moment of clarity for the american people.

I'm referring specifically to the 250,000 document mega-dump of State Department documents, not "Collateral Murder" or anything else, which was unfortunate, but a single incident and not systemic, no matter how much Assange and his hapless acolytes like to play make-believe.

[Jackmoves]

None of you really answered my question :P
We all have our oppinions on wikileaks, sometimes it could help to make things more transparent, things that need to be transparent and sometimes it's only hurtfull and unnecessary to release certain material.

[Sharde]

i have yet to see rock solid proof of any crimes done by assange. as i approve of total honesty i cannot see anything wrong with the data shown by wikileaks.

and if this organisation finds valid proof usable in a "smear campaign" it should be done. if they just make up stuff to make a politician look bad it would be a huge blow to the credibility of wikileaks ... so its a double eged sword.

short version: as long as wikileaks continues to do what it does and assange isnt rightfully accused of the crimes he has "done" im on his side.

EDIT: why assange is held captive - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish...Julian_Assange

[jackofwind]

Here's the thing - regardless of whether or not he's a champion of freedom and crusader against oppression, he's still an accused sexual criminal andrapist. If he was anyone else it wouldn't have taken this long to get him extradited - he may say the allegations are unfounded but he still has to go back to Sweden and prove his innocence. I'm not saying that he's guilty or innocent - what I'm saying is that if it was me accused I'd have already been sent back home to answer to for the alleged crimes.

Let him go prove his innocence and then resume his activities - he'll be even more of a hero to his supporters.


Back on topic - if his report is true then good on him, because moles suck and it's always nice to see a corrupt politician fall from grace. If it's not credible though he's going to fall flat on his face.

[Olo]

None of you really answered my question :P
We all have our oppinions on wikileaks, sometimes it could help to make things more transparent, things that need to be transparent and sometimes it's only hurtfull and unnecessary to release certain material.

Generally it’s not a crime to post classified information as long as you weren’t the one to steal it. However, federal prosecutors can be quite vicious when they want to. They might find a loophole if they’re motivated to.

[Jackmoves]

Generally it’s not a crime to post classified information as long as you weren’t the one to steal it. However, federal prosecutors can be quite vicious when they want to. They might find a loophole if they’re motivated to.

Cheers

Let him go prove his innocence and then resume his activities - he'll be even more of a hero to his supporters.

Idd, not sure why he has made it into such a big deal if he is certain about being innocent, our judicial system isn't perfect but it's as good as any other western nations. Him running from the law makes me pretty suspecious of his claims.

[Drush]

"Julian Assange" is a dick...

[Skroe]

None of you really answered my question :P
We all have our oppinions on wikileaks, sometimes it could help to make things more transparent, things that need to be transparent and sometimes it's only hurtfull and unnecessary to release certain material.

Although he hasn't been indicted yet, he knows that the Grand Jury in Alexandria, Virgina has been hearing evidence about his reponsibility towards leaking classified documents, and moreover the Justice Department has been working on a case for months. His confederates that he built Wikileaks know this. Many want nothing to do with him. He's extremely isolated, not to mention basically bereft of financial support, so a desperate attempt like this is perfectly understandable in a sense.

Julian's Assange leak of 250,000 classified documents is a federal crime. He admitted to doing. He can dress it up anyway he likes. But as a nation of laws, from a factual standpoint there are federal statues that censure exactly what Julian Assange did. Men have gone to jail for leaking far less... for a handful or a dozen documents. What he shared on Wikileaks wasn't even terribly different than what Robert Hansen, the FBI traitor who sold secrets to the Soviets / Russians in the 80s and 90s, did, and he narrowly avoided execution for his crimes. Assange knows that should he be indicted and extradicted, his own words will hang him and he will spend the rest of his life in a federal prison. The magnitude of the crime is staggering.

Transparency is one thing. But what Assange did was at the first part Theft of other peoples property, second a weird internet smear campaign that really was just vandalism. It just goes to show you how far gone Assange is in his delusions of grandeur that his declaration that Wikileaks would change the world has infact, lead to precisely zero changes in how the US Government conducts its affairs with other countries, and simply a massive tightening of internal information security.

That's why people who have spent their life fighting for government transparency, as a career and a passion, like transparency international, have avoided any kind of support for Assange. Because they know that his leak of 250,000+ mostly worthless documents will do nothing more than make it harder for the reason abuses that need to come to light in the future (that haven't even been committed yet) to come to light. Because these professionals undertand the world we live in... Julian Assange fooled himself into thinking internet arguments actually work outside the internet.

[Deleted]

Is this the same Julian Assange who announced to the world that the 250,000 leaked State Department cables showed "American War Crimes" when in fact they showed a tremendously professional and sometime eloquent diplomatic corps that had to deal with a world drowning in corruption, nationalistic politics and quirkiness? That "called home" to share what they learned about everything from the French social scene to the favorite cuisine of the Indonesian foreign minister?

I mean his "thermonuclear bomb" as he called it made US Diplomats look great and incredibly competent. If it wasn't for the fact it got leaked because of lax security practices, that could have harmed national security because it makes governments less sure the US can keep a secret, the State department should thank Assange.

There isn't a bigger phony, fraud and charlatan on Planet Earth than Julian Assange. His only cause is himself.

As for Bradly Manning... He's going to be locked away until the end of time like the oath breaking criminal he is. Can't wait for what a fifty year old, greying, shrifled Manning, thirty-five years hence will have to say about the glorious crusade of Mister Assange, and how it destroyed his life. That's gonna be one Dateline NBC (with Stone Phillip's head in a glass life-support jar as the host) worth watching!

yea jailing a kid for releasing footage of the american military massacring civilians and journalists just because they thought they were arabs and no one would care? that is fair to you? - in all honesty the documents just confirmed what the rest of the world suspected about the usa

[Deleted]

“This is going to hurt Sweden more than the debate about the Mohammad cartoons,” a source with knowledge of the matter told Expressen.

I find this pretty funny since a "source with knowledge" points at Sweden while taking about those cartoons. They where initially drawn for and posted in a Danish newspaper. Later on they where re-printed in a Norwegian newspaper. Sweden was never involved with anything about those cartoons...

@Jackofwind: did you even read the OP? Its two different cases. Case1 is the sex-stuff and will be handled in Sweden. Case2 is about the leaks and will take place in the US.

@@Skroesec: turn off Fox News...

[Skroe]

yea jailing a kid for releasing footage of the american military massacring civilians and journalists just because they thought they were arabs and no one would care? that is fair to you? - in all honesty the documents just confirmed what the rest of the world suspected about the usa

No. First he is in custody, not convicted with a crime by a jury yet. But when that happens it'll be under our laws, following proper procedure.

Secondly, his crime is the leak of 250,000 classified state department documents. It could have been 250,000 scanned Digimon cards because the Secretary of State loves to play, it doesn't matter so long as it was cetified as classified or otherwise sensitive.

If I go to Dicks Sporting Goods and I steal $400 worth of Nikes, and I'm convicted for theft, I don't get off lighter because I stole Nikes rather than a $400 exercise machine. The magnitude and nature of the theft is what is the legal concern, not the specifics of the content of the theft.

Thirdly Manning isn't a kid. He's an adult. Soldiers younger than him have been awarded Medals of Honor and died. People don't call them kids. They call them examples and they name warships and vehicles and schools after them. Manning knew exactly what he was doing as an adult and deserves to pay for that crime like an adult.

[jackofwind]

“This is going to hurt Sweden more than the debate about the Mohammad cartoons,” a source with knowledge of the matter told Expressen.

I find this pretty funny since a "source with knowledge" points at Sweden while taking about those cartoons. They where initially drawn for and posted in a Danish newspaper. Later on they where re-printed in a Norwegian newspaper. Sweden was never involved with anything about those cartoons...

@Jackofwind: did you even read the OP? Its two different cases. Case1 is the sex-stuff and will be handled in Sweden. Case2 is about the leaks and will take place in the US.

@@Skroesec: turn off Fox News...

I did read the OP - the thing is, he's fighting extradition to Sweden to avoid going to court in regards to his alleged rapes as well. My point is that if he were any lesser known person he would have already been dragged back to answer for his crimes there, and if he's as innocent as he claims he should want to go back to clear his name. The evidence suggests that he's fighting extradition because he's guilty, and as such I have no respect for him whatsoever, regardless of any other good he's done.

For that matter, he's fighting the US allegations by basically saying "I could have done worse, what I did wasn't so bad - and besides, you deserved it." Does that really fly? I walk into a liquor store and take $1000 worth of liquor without paying because I think their prices are too high. They're lucky, I could have taken the register too, so I should get off easy, right? I think not.

I don't care what evidence of corruption he brings to the light, nor do i care for his championing of "open governance" - he's an accused rapist who refuses to go and stand trial for his crimes. He's a known hacker and thief. He's worth less to me than the dirt under my shoes.

[Jackmoves]

SNIP

Cheers that cleared some things up.

“This is going to hurt Sweden more than the debate about the Mohammad cartoons,” a source with knowledge of the matter told Expressen.

I find this pretty funny since a "source with knowledge" points at Sweden while taking about those cartoons. They where initially drawn for and posted in a Danish newspaper. Later on they where re-printed in a Norwegian newspaper. Sweden was never involved with anything about those cartoons...

It was done by a swedish artist, and I think it was published in a local paper in Sweden first(not sure about that though)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lars_Vi...gs_controversy

[Stir]

I agree with the idea of Wikileaks: Transparency above all; everyone has the right to know what is going on, how that will affect their lives, and what sorts of corruptions run rampant in societies.

However, to hold such information hostage in order to pursue a personal goal is blackmail. Not only that; it stands directly opposite to this transparency. If he has that information, and if he truly believes in his mission to make the world a less corrupt, more transparent one, then he should not use blackmail, smear campaigning and holding back the very information that he should, according to his mission statement, release anyway.

Bad move, and, in my opinion, rather corrupt itself.

[Catta]

“This is going to hurt Sweden more than the debate about the Mohammad cartoons,” a source with knowledge of the matter told Expressen.

I find this pretty funny since a "source with knowledge" points at Sweden while taking about those cartoons. They where initially drawn for and posted in a Danish newspaper. Later on they where re-printed in a Norwegian newspaper. Sweden was never involved with anything about those cartoons...

@Jackofwind: did you even read the OP? Its two different cases. Case1 is the sex-stuff and will be handled in Sweden. Case2 is about the leaks and will take place in the US.

@@Skroesec: turn off Fox News...

It said the "debate about the Mohammed Cartoons" not the cartoons themselves...

[KingHorse]

yea jailing a kid for releasing footage of the american military massacring civilians and journalists just because they thought they were arabs and no one would care?

As much as you'd like this to be the case, it simply isn't. Show me the law on the book that says it is illegal to embarrass the US. Show me the law that says that we can throw you in jail simply because we don't like you. Can't do either, can you? You know what I can show you? The law that says releasing classified materials is punishable by lots of jail time, and in some cases, death.

Was it important that the public knew some of those things? Yes, I think so. Does that mean it wasn't a crime? Not even close.

in all honesty the documents just confirmed what the rest of the world suspected about the usa

Had you cared about anything besides what little info there was there that could be used to bash the US, you'd have noticed how much info there was that proved that, as a general rule, leaders of most countries treat each other as if they're all playing in a big sandbox and fighting over the coolest toys. They're all childish. What exactly did the US do that was completely out of character to what the rest of the world is doing in the same documents?

@Skroesec: turn off Fox News...

When you don't have a point, can't refute an argument, attack the source. That will fix it!

How about you tell him he's wrong, and them show him the proof. Otherwise, you're just countering what you assume is propaganda with a (less factual, less detailed, halfhearted) pile of your own propaganda.